ESPN
After issuing an apology on Twitter yesterday for calling Caitlin Clark a “white b—-“, Pat McAfee doubled down on the phrase by using it on a WWE broadcast just hours later.
Following an apology in which The Pat McAfee Show host said that he “shouldn’t have used ‘white bitch’ as a descriptor of Caitlin Clark“, the former Indianapolis Colts punter again used the phrase during WWE Raw.
On the Monday, June 3 episode of RAW, McAfee was calling a match involving Braun Strowman, whose nickname is “One Big SOB.”
Due to his nickname, McAfee has referred to him as “a big son of a b—-” in the past. This time, however, McAfee called him a “big white son of a b—-.”
“That’s one big white son of a bitch!” – Pat McAfee on #WWERaw 😒 pic.twitter.com/qnrlkVsRBM
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 4, 2024
McAfee’s apology came following a rant in defense of Clark in which he lashed out at the media and WNBA pros for their treatment of the #1 overall pick.
“I would like the media people that continue to say, ‘This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class’. Nah, just call it for what it is — there’s one white b—- for the Indiana team who is a superstar,” McAfee said during the June 3 episode of The Pat McAfee Show.
“Is there a chance that people just enjoy her playing basketball because of how electrifying she is, what she did, what she stood for,” he said. “But instead, we have to hear people say that we all like her because she’s white and she’s the only popular because the rest of the rookie class is doing what they’re doing. That’s a bunch of bull—-.”
A few hours later, McAfee issued an apology on Twitter saying that while he’s sorry for referring to Clark as a “white b—-“, he stands by the points he was making.
“I have way too much respect for her and women to put that into the universe. My intentions when saying it were complimentary just like the entire segment but, a lot of folks are saying that it certainly wasn’t at all. That’s 100% on me and for that I apologize… I have sent an apology to Caitlin as well. Everything else I said… still alllllll facts,” McAfee tweeted.
Clark — and to a much lesser extent, fellow rookies such as Cameron Brink and Angel Reese, in addition to established pros like Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson — has been a transformational player for the WNBA as she has brought unprecedented attention to the sport.
However, that’s also led to the outrageous discourse that we’ve seen and heard since, highlighting the growing pains that national sports media is having when it comes to discussing women’s basketball at such a large scale.